Prietos Pay Us a Visit!

In March, we were blessed with a visit from my dear friend Paige and her family! They are in a transition period before they start their new chapter of business school at Columbia University (ummm Power Couple, am I right!?!) and they were able to visit for a bit while they were touring some of Asia. Oh I was so happy! There was no way I could make this a short post, so buckle up!

The first couple days we took it pretty easy. We showed them close to home areas with 7 Eleven trips and beach views, the Godzilla slide park, Strawberry picking, Sushi-ro, and the nearby Russian restaurant (it was kind of perfect because Paige and Manny met in Russia).

The first Saturday they were here was pretty rainy, so we decided to go to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama. It has a small museum area on the top floor and then in the basement they have a bunch of different ramen shops, where you could try different types of ramen. Of course, on a rainy weekend, it was really crowded so the lines for the ramen shops were insanely long. Thankfully the kids did really well waiting in the crowded stairwell line.

The next day we had much better weather and did a trip to Kamakura! We visited Hasedera Temple, ate lunch at a fun okonomiyaki restaurant, and then went to Kamakura Daibutsu. On our way out, the Prietos got to experience how crowded Japanese trains could get! lol.

The next day we packed up our stuff and headed to Tokyo! The Prietos were amazingly smart packers and were able to carry all their luggage for their month plus long trip. Manny even helped me with my luggage since Taylor was not traveling with us initially! Travel Pros! We split to get settled at our different accomodations for the night (Manny also went to pick his parents and sister up from the airport). Taylor met me after he got off work and we went to TGI Fridays for a easy dinner (only 3 minutes from the hotel).

The next morning we met Paige and Lillian and went to a nearby park for a little bit. There were beautiful cherry blossoms blooming all over, it was so beautiful!

Later we went to TeamLab Planets, a fun modern art museum. A really cool experience! Each room you go through was completely unique and you explored the museum with all five senses. Yes, we were in a foot of water…No, the kids did not stay dry.

After we found lunch at an extremely crowded mall food court. Apparently it was also a Japanese holiday >.< The Prietos were headed back to their hotel for the afternoon and we went to a Natural Gas Museum that we saw nearby. Totally free and even though it was all in Japanese it had enough hands on things that the boys liked it.

That evening, Paige and I took a girls night just the two of us. I will forever cherish our evening together. It was actually a little surreal…10 years ago we would have never imagined we would be hanging out in Tokyo together. First we went to a super fresh and organic restaurant with lots of yummy veggies that my kids would never eat. Then we went to a fancy coctail bar call Bar TRENCH, apparently this bar has been featured in the Netflix show “Midnight Asia.” Great experience and super good cocktails! We were pretty bad at taking photos this evening, I actually had to go to google to find photos of the bar.

Our next day in Tokyo started with a trip to Harajuku, with a morning walk through Yoyogi park to see all the cherry blossoms. Then we went to the famous Takeshita street where they had fun street food and all the crazy shops.

After we walked to Shibuya to see the famous Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko Memorial Statue. Then we headed to Meguro to see their cherry blossoms along the river. It was super cool that the Prietos were able to be in Japan for the beginning of cherry blossom season.

It was a day full of walking and by this point we were all a bit pooped so we split again for the afternoon. My crew ended up finding a cute train themed curry restaurant before we headed back to our hotel. It was Jonathan’s dream world. Curry and trains! What else could you want?!

We ended the evening with a combini treat and very tired kiddos.

Our last day in Tokyo was pretty rainy so we went to an aquarium in Shinagawa. It was very nice and was also having a cherry blossom theme going on. The show was so cute too with lots of unique Japanese elements.

After the Aquarium we ate at another crowded food court and said our farewells. It was a great trip together and I hope to see them all again soon!

Miss them so much! See you soon <3

BRB, Out to Japan – Jackie